DESCRIPTION: Program Characteristics: This application is a revision of a renewal application requesting continuing support for a cancer biology training program at the University of Texas at Austin to provide predoctoral training in basic multidisciplinary research in tumor biology. The major goal is to train excellent scientists who will subsequently pursue successful independent research in tumor biology. Training emphasis derives from the strengths of the training faculty and will be in the areas of chemical and viral carcinogenesis, immunology, and cellular and molecular biology. Trainees will be drawn from students who have matriculated in the Department of Microbiology, the Molecular Biology Program, and the Division of Biological Sciences Graduate Programs of the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin. All trainees will be required to take a core series of courses in cell and molecular biology and to complete graduate level courses in immunobiology, fundamentals of tumor biology, virology, and mechanisms of carcinogenesis. Trainees will also participate in short, highly focused courses in research techniques and in various aspects of carcinogenesis and tumor biology. Past courses have included transcriptional control, RNA processing, oncogenes and signalling. Opportunities also exist for trainees to attend the NCI-sponsored tumor biology course at Keystone, Colorado.